After making major gains in June, both housing starts and building permits fell in July, according to data released Tuesday by The US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Privately-owned housing starts in July were 604,000 in July, a 1.5 percent decline from June, but 9.8 percent above July 2010 rate of 550,000.
There were also minimal signs of near-term growth in construction as building permits in July were at an estimated annual rate of 597,000--3.2 percent below June and 3.8 percent above July 2010 estimate of 575,000.
Meanwhile, ongoing construction activity was strong in July as privately-owned housing completions were up 11.8 percent from June to 636,000 and also rose 9.5 percent from July 2010.